I thoroughly enjoyed my battles with Sachin: Gillespie

Sachin Tendulkar is set to call it a day after playing his 200th Test against West Indies at the Wankhede stadium, starting on 14th November 2013. In a career spanning 24 years, the batting maestro has faced several quality bowlers of different nationalities and has come out trumps. Even when Australia dominated the Test arena, with an attack that had formidable pace bowlers like Merv Hughes and Craig McDermott in the early nineties, Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie and Brett Lee in the latter part of the 90s and the 2000s, and the likes of Mitchell Johnson and Peter Siddle in recent history, Tendulkar has been a constant thorn in their path, posting one big score after another.

Of the 15,837 runs that Tendulkar has scored so far in Test cricket, almost 25% of it has come against Australia, at an impressive average of 55, including 11 hundreds and 16 half-centuries in 74 innings. A look at Tendulkar's career stats also reveal that there were a couple of Aussie bowlers who have troubled him on a few occasions. On the list of bowlers who have dismissed Tendulkar the most number of times, McGrath and Gillespie are placed jointly third, having dismissed the master batsman 6 times each. The latter, in a column for theroar.com.au has revealed the methods Australia used to employ to try and dismiss the batting legend.

To challenge the best in the game and the thrill of the fight is what drives a cricketer, said Gillespie, who spoke about his preparations ahead of a match and what extra he had to do while going up against Tendulkar. "As a cricketer, you want to challenge yourself against the best. Whether it be with bat or ball in hand, the thrill of the fight is what drives you to put in your preparation in the nets, on the field and in the gymnasium. The mental rehearsals you go through as you prepare to come up against your opponent allow you the opportunity to strive for consistency. These are the things that went through my mind when I was coming up against batsmen in Test cricket."

"My philosophy was to prepare as well as I could physically so that mentally I was ready to go - give myself the best chance so I could get out there, relax and enjoy the challenge. Coming up against Sachin, I knew that my margin for error was low - he could put a good delivery away with ease so I needed to be spot on from ball one, no warm-up balls to allow him to settle," he added.

Gillespie, who elaborated on the different methods employed by the Australians to dismiss Tendulkar in different conditions, said: "If there was bounce and carry in the pitch, we would look to bowl a fourth-stump or fifth-stump line on a good length, the definition of 'good' being a length that Sachin would endeavour to get forward to if he could and potentially look to drive the ball through the offside. If there was less bounce and carry, like on some Indian pitches, our line would be straighter to hit off stump. We would also use the bouncer on occasion. Sachin always used a heavy bat so we thought early on it was a good option to hurry him up and possibly force a mistake."

While mentioning that the Australians have been successful in dismissing Tendulkar early several times, Gillespie said a look at the record books will also reveal the scores that resulted when they have not been able to dismiss the Indian number 4 early. "As a team we won some battles against him, and personally I was able to force an error early, yet you only have to look in the record books to see the times we did not get him early, and the scores that resulted. If Plan A did not come off, other options included bowling wide of off stump with a strong offside field to try and dry up the runs, or having five fielders on the leg side and bowling to hit the stumps every ball."

"Others things we tried were cutters and changing the seam position to see if the ball would behave differently off the pitch. The absolute key to bowling in Test cricket, and certainly bowling to Sachin, was patience. Build up scoreboard pressure through aggressive, disciplined bowling and positive body language," he said.

Gillespie said his battles with Tendulkar gave him immense joy and mentioned that even when things were not going his way, he would always bowl to the legendary batsman with the mindset that he is only a delivery away from picking up a wicket. "I thoroughly enjoyed my one-on-one battles with Sachin, even when it was not quite going my way. I always had the mindset that I was only one ball away from getting him out - it did not always work out like that though!"

While recollecting some of the dismissals, Gillespie spoke highly of the way Tendulkar respected the umpire's decision, even when he had been wrongly given out leg-before at the Gabba. Calling him a superstar who was always humble and respectful, Gillespie said the game will be poorer with his absence.

"I did manage to get him out a few times: bowled, lbw and caught behind were the modes of dismissal. I do remember having an lbw decision go my way at the Gabba in Brisbane when Sachin padded up. The replays clearly showed it was missing the stumps but you would not have known from Sachin's demeanour - he accepted the umpire's decision and walked to the pavilion. That is what will stay with me: that a superstar of a player was so incredibly humble and respectful, yet remained a fierce competitor on the field. I would like to wish Sachin all the best for his retirement. He has been a credit to himself, his family and Indian cricket. The game of cricket will be poorer for his absence."